About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Velvet Fig – Wemyss’ Vatted Malt is a Winner

My affinity and curiosity (and often disappointment) from vatted malts is well known to my readers, as making a really good vatted malt, one that truly highlights what each of the different malts brings into the blend is a true feat of art. Also well known is my disdain for the inevitable “best ____ whisky of 201X” prize-fests, especially those that don’t come with a detailed reasoning of the reasons for the particular selection versus the other contestants.

So with all those caveats in mind, I got to taste Wemyss’ Velvet Fig, quite a long time after a friend sent me a sample of it. Incidentally, that week Velvet Fig also won Whisky Magazine’s Best Scotch Blended Malt at the World Whiskies Awards, making this post doubly timely.

In Velvet Fig, Wemyss changed their entire approach to vatted malts (or malt blends, as they should be legally referred to ). The previous editions of the three regional vatted malts -The Hive, Peat Chimney and Spice King – were bottled at 40% ABV, not stated to be unchill filtered, and were age stated with both 8 and 12 year old versions available. Velvet Fig, on the other hand, is NAS but is bottled at 46% and is non chill filtered (the press release says “natural mahogany color” so I’ll assume there’s not coloring added). Right off the bat I’d expect a much richer flavor profile, and being a heavily sherried whisky, it can probably get away with being somewhat younger. So on that front, Velvet Fig is a step forward. The only thing to be sorry about is not keeping the age statement on it.

Photo Credit: thewhiskyexchange.com

Wemyss Malts Velvet Fig Vatted Malt (46% ABV, NCF, NC)

Appearance: Deep bronze, very slow legs.

Nose: Dried fruit jump out of the glass at you, cinnamon and cloves with a deep sherry sweetness, wood spices and orange peel under the sweet layer.

Palate: Sweet and syrupy, with sweetness washing over the tongue, sweet and hot spices intertwine with the tiniest hint of salt.

Linger: Light dryness on sides of cheeks plays with a latent sweetness on the tongue. Notes of espresso and chocolate mix with gentle spice.

Conclusion

They nailed it! They really did with this one. While I wasn’t all that enthused with Peat Chimney (reviewed here), this vatted malt is a whole new ball game.

It feels like Aberlour A`bunadh with a touch of Talisker and a western Highlander for the Salt (like Old Pulteney), and the malts work beautifully together. The bottle says that this is a limited edition, and if so, and sherry is your thing, you might want to get a bottle.